Machine for charging containers



June 25, I935.

0 P. E. cATE rmcnma FOR CHARGING CONTAINERS ori inal Filed Sept. 2, 19:52

4 Sheets-Sheet l June 25, 193 5. P. E. CATE 2,006,012

' MACHINE FOR CHARGING-CONTAINERS Original Filed Sept. 2, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 25, 1935. P, E. CATE 2,006,012

MACHiNE FOR CHARGING CONTAINERS Original Filed Sept. 2, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 10s fil June 25, 1935.

P. E. CATE MACHINE FOR CHARGING CONTAINERS Original Filed'Sept. 2, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4' Patented June 25, 1935 Fulton Sylphon Company, Knoxville, Tenn, a corporation of Delaware I Original application September 2, 1932, Serial No.

Divided and this application Decemher 7, 1933, Serial No. 701,406

3 Claims. (Cl. 226-96) This invention relates to devices for supplying liquid charges to vessels, particularly of the expansible and collapsible or bellows type, the present application being a divisionof my application Serial No. 631,597, filed. September 2, 1932.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a machine of novel construction which. is

' capable of operating automatically upon a sue-- cession of vessels or bellows to bring the same into cooperativerelationship with a charging device and to introduce a predetermined quantity of liquid charge thereintoin a rapid and cilicient manner.

Another object of this invention is to provide a.

properly centered and liquid-tight contact between the vessel or bellows and the charging device so as to prevent waste or leakage of the liquid.

. Another object of this invention is to provide a charging device which includes a charge-supplying conduit that may be protruded from the charging device into an orifice in the vessel or bellows but which conduit is normally shielded from injury until an operative relationship with the head of a vessel or bellows has been established.

Another object of this invention is to provide novel mechanism for delivering measured charges of liquid to a vessel or bellows properly positioned in cooperative relationship thereto. Other objects will appear as the description of the invention proceeds.

The invention is capable of receiving a variety of mechanical expressions one of which is shown on the accompanying drawings, but it is to be expressly understood that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not to be construed as a definition of the limits of the inven-' tion, reference being had to the appended claims 40 for that purpose.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a unitary bellows handling machine constituting one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view, with certain 50 parts shown in full, taken substantially 'on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the filling mechanism removed from its associated mechanism for clearness of understanding;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view, with certain.

parts shown in full, of the charge-delivering mechanism of the machine disclosed in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of the mechanism. shown in'Fig. 5 with the parts shown in charge-delivering position.

There isdisclosed in the drawings a unitary self-contained bellows handling machine of novel construction which is capable of soldering the heads of bellows to the bodies thereof, filling the bellows with measured charges of a suitable liquid, increasing or decreasing the pressure within the bellows and finally sealing the same in a rapid and eflicient manner, all of said operations being performed upon a succession of bellows which are advanced throughthe machine in timed relation with the operation of the various soldering, filling, pressure varying and sealing mechanisms. The machineincludes a movable carrier, here shown as a rotatable table, on which are mounted a plurality of bellows seat members each of which is adapted to support a bellows having a body and an upwardly extending head with an orifice therein, and various devices positioned adjacent to or above the path of movement of the bellows on said carrier for performing the soldering, filling, pressure varying and sealing operations.

In the embodiment illustrated, the carrier or table is moved intermittently to advance the successive bellows to positions adjacent to or beneath the various mechanisms, the latter being so located as to coincide with at-rest positions of the bellows seat members. As the carrier comes to rest with the bellows beneath the various mechanisms, the seat members are moved or raised so as to bring the bellows into close cooperative relationship with therespective mechanisms. The complete machine thus provided is capable of automatic and continuous operation, and handles bellows in a far more rapid and efficient manner than any of the devices previously known to the I eferrlng now to Figs. 1-3, the bellows handling machine of the present invention may embody a movable carrier in the form of a table 2| rotatably supported as by suitable ball bearings 22 on a pedestal 23 which is in turn suitably mounted on the top plate 24 of a supporting framework 25. Table 2| carries at circumferentially spaced points about its periphery aplurality of seat members or fixtures 26 each of which is provided with a downwardly extending stem or pin 2'! projecting through and beneath table 2| in position to be engaged by means later to be described for raising or. lifting seat members 26 to bring the bellows supported thereon into. engagement with the soldering, filling and sealing mechanisms. Each of seat members 26 is adapted to support a bellows or other vessel 28 and, as shown best in Figs. 5 and 6, is preferably provided with a recess 29 designed to receive the bottom head 30 of a bellows 28. Each of bellows 28 is provided with the usual corrugated body portion and an upwardly extending head 3| in which there is formed a suitable tapered orifice 32 through which the bellows may be charged, and its pressure increased or decreased as desired.

Spaced at intervals about the periphery of table 2 and preferably located immediately above the path of travel of bellows 28, are the various mechanisms for performing the soldering, filling or charging, pressure varying and sealing opera-' tions upon the successive bellows as they are advanced through the machine. The stations at which the various operations are performed have been indicated generally by the reference characters A, B, C, D and E. At station A empty, unsealed bellows, the upper heads 3| of which are secured to the bodies only by the engagement of the upper corrugations with the flanges of the heads (see Fig. 6) are placed upon seat members 25 either by any suitable mechanical means or by an operator located at this station. At station B rings of solder are formed and cut from a suitable supply of wire solder and are deposited one at a time upon the heads 3| of bellows 28, while at station C the solder rings are melted so as to seal the previously fluxed joints between heads 3| and the bodies of bellows 28. At station D a measured amount of any suitable liquid with which it is desired to charge the bellows is introduced into each bellows through orifice 32 of upper head 3|. the bellows is either increased or decreased, as desired, the machine shown in the drawings being adapted for evacuation of the bellows after the charging operation, and the bellows are finally sealed by driving closure members into orifices 32. As the filled and sealed bellows again approach station A, they are removed from seat Any suitable means may be provided for mov ing carrier or table 2| to advance the successive bellows to the various soldering, charging, evacuating and sealing mechanisms, the embodiment illustrated including a plurality of studs 33 secured to and projecting downwardly from the underside of table 2|, and a substantially cylindrical cam 34, shown in Fig. 1, having a diagonal slot-35 formed in its periphery and a stud engagingarm 36 forming one side of said slotand extending outwardly at one end beyond the side of cam in such position that, as the cam is r0 tated by main driving shaft 3! upon which it is mounted, the end of arm 36 engages one of studs" 33 and forces it to follow groove 35 until it passes therefrom on the opposite side of cam 34, thus rotating table 2| through an angulardistance equal to the arc subtended by .radii passing through two adjacent studs 33. In the embodiment illustrated, the direction of rotation of table 2| is counterclockwise. Studs 33 are preferably equal in number to the bellows supporting seat members 25, and are spaced at regular intervals at a uniform radius, so that table 2| is intermittently rotated in a proper manner to bring the bellows one after another to positions coincident with the locations of the various'mechanisms.

At station E the pressure within It will be noted that studs 33 are spaced apart a distance only slightly greater than the width of cam 3 3 and thus form a lock with said cam preventing movement of table 2| except when said studs are acted upon by groove 35 of cam 34.

Main driving shaft 3i, upon which table turning cam 34 is mounted, may be journaled in suitable bearings 38 beneath table 2| and extends substantially across said table tangent to the circle marking the locus of studs 33. Shaft 31 is adapted to be continuously driven in any suitable manner, the drive illustrated comprising, as 'shown best in Fig. 2, a sprocket wheel 39 secured to shaft 31, a chain 48 passing around sprocket wheel 39 and another sprocket 4| which is mounted upon the output shaft 42 of a speed reducing device 43, and a motor 44 which drives the input shaft 55 of speed reducer 43 as by a belt 46 and pulleys ll and 38.

As previously mentioned, when the vessels being handled by the present machine are of the bellows type, they are usually supplied to the machine with the upper heads secured to the bodies only by mechanical engagement of the topmost corrugation 49 (see Fig. 6) with the flange Bil of the head, and although these joints are usually fiuxed before the bellows are placed upon seat members 25, it is preferable that they be soldered during the passage of the bellows through the machine. To this end, there is provided at station 13 suitable mechanism for forming rings of solder and depositing said rings upon the heads of the successive bellows. As shown, suitable rings of solder are formed in a block supported at 55 by bracket 56 and supplied with wire solder 5!. Suitable means for feeding and cutting off proper lengths of the wire are associated with the forming block and driven from the main driving shaft 31 by chain 18 running over chain gear H on jack shaft 15, the latter carrying a bevel'gear in mesh with a bevel gear 13 on the driving shaft of the feeding and cutting mechanism, all as disclosed in greater detail in said application Serial No. 631,597 above referred From station E where the split rings of solder are thus formed and deposited upon the successive bellows heads, continued movement of carrier or table 2| advances the bellows to station C where suitable means are provided for melting the solder so as to properly seal the joints between the upper bellows heads and the bellows bodies. As shown best in Figs. 1 and 3, the present embodiment of the machine includes a plurality of gas-air torches 82 of any desired construction, adjustably moLmted closely adjacent the path of movement of the bellows, as on a supporting rod or bracket 83, and so positioned as to direct their blasts against the upper bellows heads of the bellows in at-rest positions of the table or carrier 2|. Although only three torches 82' have been shown in the drawings, it will be understood that any desired number may be utilized' and positioned in any suitable manner. During passage of the bellows through the heating zone they are preferably rotated by any suitable means, as the belt 35 which passes around suitable pulleys 85, t'l and 88 and engages frictionally in grooves 53% in the seat members 26, to the end that the heat is evenly distributed with respect to the bellows head, pulley 33 being driven from the output shaft of the speed reducing mech anism 43 through belt 80 and pulley 93 on shaft 89 as shown in Fig. 2 and as more fully disclosed in'said application Serial No. 631,597.

It is to be expressly understood, however, that the present invention maybe usedwith any other suitable mechanism for attaching the head to the body of the vessel or bellows, or the mechanism next to bedescribed can be used independently of any mechanism for attaching a head to thebodyofa vessel or bellows.

In handling vessels of various sorts it is often desirable thata measured charge of liquid be supplied to each vessel before it is'sealed, and this is particularly true when the vessels in question are those of the expansible and contractible, orbellows, type which are adapted to be used as thermostatic elements and the like, to

the handling of which class of vessels the ma chine provided by the present invention is especially directed. Accordingly, in the embodiment illustrated, there is provided at station D, to which the bellows are advanced by table 2| after the completion of the soldering operation at station 0, novel means for delivering to the interior of each bellows a measured charge of any suitable liquid.

- As shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6, the charge 1? delivering mechanism, indicated generally at 05,

located atstation D may comprise a substantially cylindrical casing or body 96 in the upper end of which is threaded a closure block Slwhich is in turn provided with an internally threaded recess 98 in its upper surface adapted to receive the lower threaded end of a comparatively thickwalled pipe 99. *Closure block 91 is also provided with a suitable charge delivery tube I which leads downwardly from the base of recess 98, centrally of casing 96, with its lower end located the bottom of recess 98. a

The upper end of pipe 99, which is supported in any desired manner by the superstructure of the machine supporting framework 25, is connected by suitable tubing I04 with a pump 105 (Fig. 4) of any suitable type which is adapted to supply the charging fluid to charge delivery device 95 from any suitable source such as a storage bottle or reservoir I06. Pump I is preferably a diaphragm or impulse pump of known construction and is adapted to be actuated by a constantly rotating cam I0I of suitable configuration mounted on main driving shaft 31 and with which pump actuating lever I08 is constantly in engagement. If desired, pump I05 may also be provided with a suitable filter I09, also of known construction. With this arrangement of impulse pump I05 and spring loaded ball valve IOI, a measured charge of liquid is delivered from source I06 to recess 98 and the upper end of charge delivery tube I00 once in every revolution of main driving shaft 31.

In order that the charge thus provided to charge delivery device 95 may be properly delivered without loss to the interior of a bellows 28, casing 96 and its associated elements are preferably so located as to be coaxial with one of the at-rest positions of bellows 28, and means are also preferably provided for lifting the bellows in said position into close cooperative relationship with the charge deliverying mechanism. To this end, there is slidably supported in a suitable bracket arm IIO (Fig. 5) carried by the machine supporting framework 25, in a position directly beneath the at-rest position of the bellows seat member 28 on which is supported the bellows which is to be acted upon by the charge delivering mechanism, a push pin II'I carrying at its lower end a cam roller "H2 and'which is continuously maintained in contact with a suitable cam I I! mounted adjacent one end of main driving shaft 31, as by a spring member H4. As push pin I II is elevated by theengagement of roller I I2 with the high part of cam I I3, against the tension of spring member I I4, the upper surface thereof abuts the lower end of the coaxial stem 21 of seat member 26 and raises the same was to bring the upper end and orifice 32 of bellows head 3I closely adjacent the bottom end of charge delivering tube I00 to insure that the charge is delivered to the bellows without loss. It will be understood that cams I01 and H3 are so shaped and arese-cured to main driving shaft 31 in such angular relation to one another and to table turning cam 34 that the movement of the table'ZI, the lifting of seat members 26 and bellows 28, and the actuation of pump I05 are properly coordinated in timed relation'so that the measured charge of liquid is delivered to a bellows" when the latter is in proper position to receive the charge.

Accurate delivery of the charge to the bellows and protection of the lower end of charge delivery tube I00 against injury may be further insured by providing charge delivering mechanism 95, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, with a suitable sleeve member II5 which is slidably supported in the lower end of casing 96 and. surrounds the lower portion of charge delivery tube I00. Sleeve H5 is normally urged outwardly of casing 96 to the fullest extent permitted by the engagement of its upper flange II6 with a shoulder II'I formed within casing 95, .as by a suitable spring I I8 interposed between the upper surface of said sleeve and the bottom surface of closure plug 01,.and when in such position the lower end of sleeve I I5 extends below and'fully protects the lower end of charge delivery tube I00. The lower end of sleeve H5 is also preferably provided with a tapered or beveled mouth IIB against which the upper end of bellows head 3| is adapted to abut when the bellows is raised by cam II3, said tapered mouth tending to center the bellows with respect to the charge delivering mechanism .l5so that continued lifting of the bellows will move sleeve I I5 upwardly against the resistance of spring I I8 and enable the entry of the bottom end of charge delivery tube I00 into orifice 32 of the bellows head, Fig. 6 showing these elements in fully raised position ready for delivery of the charge.

After a charge has been delivered to the interior of a bellows, continued rotation of cam I I3 brings the low portion thereof into engagement with roller II2 permitting spring member I I4 to move push pin I II downward, and seat member 26 and the bellows supported thereon to return to their normal positions whereupon table 2| is rotated another step to bring the next bellows into alinement with the charge delivery mechanism.

From station D the vessels or bellows are progressively transferred, in the embodiment illustrated, to the station or stations wherein the pressure therein is determined and the sealing effected, as referred to above and as disclosed in detail in said application Serial No. 631,597 of which this application is a division. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the mechaciated with any other suitable mechanisms than those illustrated, and may be incorporated in machines of other construction or character, or be used independently without departing from the present invention.

It will therefore be perceived that an improved automatic machine has been provided wherein measured charges of a liquid may be injected into a vessel or bellows and wherein the vessel or bellows is brought into properly centered and fluid-tight contact with the charging device so that wastage and leakage of the liquid is avoided. The injection is effected through a conduit which is protruded through an orifice in the vessel or bellows but which is normally shielded from injury by a yieldably mounted tube that is withdrawn by the movement of the vessel or bellows into cooperative relationship with the charging device. Improved means have also been provided for delivering predetermined charges of liquid to a vessel or bellows in cooperative relationship with the charging device.

While the embodiment of the invention illus trated on the drawings has been described with considerable particularity it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not restricted.

thereto, as the invention may receive a variety of mechanical expressions some of which will now readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, while changes may be made in the detailsof construction, arrangement and proportion of parts, and certain features used without other features, without departing from the spirit of this invention. Reference is therefore to be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a bellows handling machine, a movable carrier adapted to support a plurality of bellows, means for introducing a liquid charge'into said bellows including a casing, a charge delivery tube having its delivery end extending beyond the end of said casing, a sleeve member slidably mounted in said casing and surrounding said tube, the end of said sleeve member normally extending beyond and protecting the delivery end of said tube, means yieldably resisting inward movement of said sleeve member, means for moving said carrier to advance said bellows one after another into'substantial alignment with said sleeve member, and means for anism herein described and claimed may be asso-' moving said bellows one after another to efiect a fluid-tight engagement between the ends of said bellows and said sleeve member and withdraw said sleeve member to project the end of said tube into an opening in the end of each said bellows.

2. In a bellows handling machine, a movable carrier adapted to support a plurality of bellows, means for introducing a liquid charge into said bellows including a casing, a charge delivery tube having its delivery end extending beyond the end of said casing, a sleeve member slidably'mounted in said casing and surround ing said tube, the end of said sleeve member being so shaped as to center a bellows head when engaged therewith and normally extending beyond and protecting the delivery end of said tube, means yieldably resisting inward movement of said sleeve member, means for moving said carrier to advance said bellows one after another into substantial alignment with said sleeve member, and means for moving said bellows one after another to effect a fluid-tight engagement between the ends of said bellows and said sleeve member and withdraw said sleeve member to project the end, of said tube into an opening of each said bellows.

3: In a bellows handling machine, a movable carrier adapted to support a plurality of bellows, means for introducing a liquid charge into said bellows including a casing, a charge delivery tube having its delivery end extending beyond the end of said casing, a sleeve member slidably mounted in said casing and surrounding said tube, the end of said sleeve member normally extending beyond and protecting the delivery end of said tube, means yieldably resisting inward movement of said sleeve member, means for moving said carrier to advance said bellows one after another into substantial alignment with said sleeve member, means for moving said bellows one after another to effect a fluid-tight engagement between the ends of said bellows and said sleeve member and withdraw said sleeve member to project the end of said tube into an opening of each said bellows, means for supplying a measured amount of charging liquid to said tube, and means for operating said last named means in timed relation with the engaging of said bellows with said sleeve member.

PAUL E. CATE. 

